The present invention pertains to a vehicular mounting assembly for rearview mirrors and in particular to a mounting assembly having a breakaway capacity for rearview mirrors having electrical accessories.
Modern vehicles are manufactured with a rearview mirror assembly attached to the vehicle roof structure or windshield. Such assemblies typically include a control mechanism for adjusting the amount of light reflected to the driver. Rearview mirror assemblies may also include electrical accessories such as a clock; map lamps; an electric reflectivity control; vehicle warning indicators; and garage door openers. Examples of rearview mirror assemblies including electrical accessories are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,808 entitled REARVIEW MIRROR TRANSMITTER ASSEMBLY issued to Marcus on May 8, 1984; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,717 entitled VEHICLE MAGNETIC SENSOR issued Jan. 17, 1984 to Marcus. These and other mirror assemblies include electrical circuitry wired directly to the vehicle's electrical system typically through a wire harness. However, they do not provide a modular mounting construction allowing the flexibility of mounting a variety of different mirror assemblies to a base.
Breakaway rearview mirrors are Utilized to reduce the severity of injury for an individual in the event of an accident. In the past, one approach has been to attach the mirror to a vehicle through the use of a frangible element. With this construction, a new mounting assembly must be purchased and installed with every instance that the mirror is broken away. To overcome the deficiencies and problems of using a frangible mounting assembly, some mounts include spring bias mechanisms or resilient support members which act to bend or give way but do not fracture upon impact. These arrangements provide a less secure and steady mounting of the mirror when placed in an operative position. None of these mounting arrangements include an electrical connection between electrical circuitry in a rearview mirror and the vehicle's electrical system.
A particularly advantageous breakaway mirror assembly which overcomes many of the disadvantages of the prior art breakaway rearview mirrors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,470 entitled OVERHEAD CONSOLE WITH BREAKAWAY MOUNT issued to Clark on Mar. 20, 1989. Although this construction provides a mechanically superior mounting assembly, it does not provide an electrical connection between the mirror and the vehicle's electrical system.